The End of Restraint
by infinite nemo
Summary: Kenshin has finally admitted his feelings for Kaoru- to himself, but it seems the whole world is out to prevent him from sharing them with Kaoru


There will be more OOC here than in many a fanfiction combined =) this idea has been nagging me for a while, and… I decided I would try to make a go at it. After reading another story where in the author's notes they said they ought to do this sometime, but it was unlikely, it made up my mind.

I'll just let you know this was all written long before it was posted. *sigh* Anyway…

The title? Everyone always gushes about how much restraint and stuff Kenshin has. Well, there you go. Maybe this will be citrus-y, but we'll have to see. 

I warn you MAJOR WAFF- in fact, it might even be "saccharinely sweet" as one of my friends likes to say. I warn you- it is going to be different from many stories- none of this "there is a huge threat that is taken care of and the realization of what he almost lost that prompts Kenshin into taking action." 

PROLOGUE:  Bunnies

            Kaoru sat on her futon, weaving her hair into a loose braid so it wouldn't be tangled during the night. She heard a noise and her head whipped towards the doors, but she relaxed instantly.

            'It's ok… Kenshin is here- and so are Yahiko and Sano. Mou- I might as well invite that freeloader to stay as a permanent resident too… if he does I can start him on chores. Or possibly, it'll scare him and he'll stay away more often.' 

            Kaoru chuckled to herself. 'Yeah right, and pigs are going to fly out of my butt, and Saitoh's going to hand me a big bag of money tomorrow.' She snickered. 'Or pigs are going to fly out of Saitoh's butt…' 

            She quickly wrapped a small ribbon around the tips of her hair, and shook her head, hands going up to push the wisps of hair out of her face. 

            'Too tired, Kamiya. Too tired. Just get some sleep.'

            Kaoru spread out her blanket, and was about to get under it, when she heard another noise. She sat up sharply, and strained her ears. There was definitely some sound of scuffling. Kaoru got up and ran swiftly to the door. 

            'I wonder why Sano and Yahiko aren't up- didn't they hear it? Am I really that paranoid?'

            Kaoru was reassured when she saw a large shadow, but only slightly. 'Real bright, Kaoru- you have no weapon.' The dark shape was approaching, and Kaoru looked around for a weapon she could grab without alerting the shadow. She saw a faint flash of red hair in the moonlight, and breathed a sigh of relief.

            "Kenshin!" she whispered, and began to run up to him.

            "Stop!" 

            Kaoru froze, startled at sound of his voice- he rarely took that tone of voice with her.

            'Battousai hasn't surfaced, has he? No, it can't be- if he did, Kenshin would be in the middle of combat right now, not walking so calmly…' Kaoru grew a little apprehensive. 'What is that bundle he has in his arms?'

            Kenshin drew a little nearer.

            "Kaoru- light a candle and leave it in your room, then shut the door."

            Kaoru obeyed immediately, not wanting to upset Kenshin in case Battousai was lurking about the surface. As she moved, however, she wished she had gotten a look at Kenshin's eyes. Kaoru paused for a second, and then walked out of the room. She let herself exhale softly, and slid the door shut. She turned around quickly and almost collided with Kenshin. They both jumped apart. Kaoru peered at what was still cradled in Kenshin's arms.

            "What've you got there Kenshin?"

            He looked up at her and Kaoru's heart stopped at the pure happiness that showed in his boyish expression. She didn't even try to repress her answering smile. 

            "I caught a rabbit!"

            Kaoru blinked. And she did it again. 

            "Nani?"

            Kenshin slightly thrust his arms at her. Kaoru looked down and saw a twitching brown furry thing. She giggled.

            "It's a bunny!"

            "Aa de gozaru."

            "It's so cute!" Kaoru bent over and stared at the cute little animal which froze and stared back at Kaoru. Kaoru continued to do that until she felt her eyes watering. She blinked and wiped away the tears, continuing to look at the bright black eyes.

            Kenshin, meanwhile, had become aware of Kaoru's slightly inappropriate position. She was kneeling before him, and in her haste, she hadn't bothered to tie her yukata securely. He tried to tell her, but didn't have the heart to ruin the atmosphere. Besides… 

            'Stop it, Kenshin no hentai- anyway, you know Kaoru would beat you into next year if she thought you were ogling her. But- you do have to tell Kaoru somehow to make herself more… proper, her pounding you into the ground. Oro- how am I going to do that de gozaru?!' He then convinced himself that he wasn't moving because he didn't want to disturb Kaoru and he feared for his own personal well being. It had nothing to do with Kaoru's gaping yukata which provided a very plunging neckline, and the fact that Kaoru was a very well endowed young lady. Yup, she had great assets… er… nope- he wasn't affected by her… scantily clad body… not at all. 

            He was startled when Kaoru straightened. 

            "Kenshin," she was completely taken. "Can I hold it?" she asked eagerly, not even looking at him. 

            Kenshin fought the urge to drop the now calmed animal, chiding himself, saying it was ridiculous to be jealous of a little animal. 'Kaoru pays quite enough attention to you.'

            "If you want Kaoru-dono." He said softly, not to frighten the rabbit. "Just come closer a little closer."

            Kaoru moved a little closer and tried to grasp the rabbit, but it began to kick and squirm frantically. 

            "Ano, Kaoru-dono, you'll need to brace it against yourself, and hold it to you with your arms."

             Kaoru moved until she was almost touching him, and Kenshin couldn't help but close the distance between them. Kaoru was so engrossed in the shivering creature that she didn't even notice. Kenshin, however, couldn't think of anything except for the fact that Kaoru was almost naked- and the only thing between them was their clothes and… the rabbit. He almost began regretting catching it, but then, it had offered him this disguised moment with Kaoru. Kenshin gently let go of the animal, and Kaoru held the rabbit and began stroking the fur gently. As he felt Kaoru's breasts gently pressed against his own chest Kenshin fought to control his breathing. Then he realized that other parts of him were uncontrollable. He hoped with everything he had that Kaoru wouldn't notice. 'She smells like jasmine… oh, I hope this moment never ends… I hope a tornado whips through to end this… what am I going to do de gozaru?!'

            A few moments more, and Kaoru noticed, asking somewhat sharply,

            "Kenshin, what is that?"

            "The rabbit! The rabbit- it's kicking!" he squeaked. Indeed, the rabbit had begun to struggle, probably uncomfortable with the tension that had been created. 

            "Kenshin no hentai." She growled, but her attention was quickly directed to it, and she moved a hand, stroking the rabbit and speaking to it soothingly, gently bouncing it while pacing the small hallway. 

AN: I just read what must have been the strangest things I ever had. No, not because of the setting, but because of the astronomic mood swings of the characters and their reactions to certain events- needless to say, it was entertaining in a slightly shocking way, but not exactly quality. I hope that is not how you view my stories. Drop me a line and let me know! I lied- there are two of them out there.

Last thing! Your= possession. You're = you are. And… can you "kneeled"? I've always thought it was "knelt"- maybe I'm going crazy- but I just needed to check. Or, maybe kneeled is a word, just like ain't is. I mean, amn't is… (ish). This for sure, prelapsarian and jabberwocky are words. =D review please!!

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

9/6/02 I've had this sitting on my computer since July 9th… and… *shrug* I guess I feel bad for not having updated my other stuff sooner, so I'm posting this! LOL- *believe me* all my stories **_will be finished_** (there's just no accounting for when!) *wince* Everything before this break was written in early July… I just re-read it… *shrug* I dunno if I like all of it, but I'm leaving it for now. Maybe when I revise it. 

REVIEW PLEASE!! (and thanks for reading!!) 


End file.
